Training for Wimbledon ballboys and girls on hold but chiefs insist decision on cancelling event will not be made yet

WIMBLEDON has halted training for ball girls and ball boys because of the coronavirus crisis.

And All England chiefs are set to decide by early May at the latest whether this year’s Championships can go ahead.

About 250 children each year are recruited from local schools and trained to work on the courts during Wimbledon fortnight.

But that process was stopped in line with government advice even before the announcement that all schools would be closed from Friday.

The All England Club has been making contingency plans since January to cope with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As things stand, the Championships are still scheduled to run from June 29 to July 12.

But it is likely to be clear by the time of the annual spring press conference, due to be held on April 28, whether

there will be tennis on the lawns on SW19 this summer.

It seems all but certain that there will not, given the predicted scale and length of the crisis to come in the UK.

Even staging matches behind closed doors at the All England Club would bring huge logistical challenges.

And if travel bans remained in place, Wimbledon chiefs would have no choice but to postpone the event.

There would be very little room for manoeuvre to reschedule later in the year, especially after French Open chiefs moved their own event to late September/October without properly consulting any other tennis stakeholders.